How a Van Persie move to Manchester City after all could in fact be good news for Arsenal and their fans.
In July, Robin van Persie announced that he would not be signing an extension to his Arsenal contract, One month on and the Dutch striker remains an Arsenal player with interest from both Manchester clubs and Italian side Juventus reportedly cooling off.
It’s no secret that last season, Robin van Persie was the main man at Arsenal, scoring an incredible 37 goals in 48 domestic and European appearances. His goals helped the North London club achieve a very respectable third place finish in the Premier League, earning them automatic qualification for the group stages of next season’s Champions League.
With van Persie having only one more year left on this contract, Arsenal knew that a summer of speculation would surely be on the cards so as soon as the Arsenal captain announced his intention to leave, Arsene Wenger was keen to resolve the matter sooner rather than later – not like the saga of Samir Nasri, one year earlier.
There are obvious similarities between the two situations; like Nasri last summer, van Persie has stated he wants to part ways with the club a year before he could leave the Gunners on a free. There is however, one big difference – there would be no doubting that RVP would give his best efforts if he were to see out his final year at the Emirates. The same could not have been said for Nasri.
Arsenal must weigh it up; do they keep their man and give themselves a greater chance of success next season before letting him leave for nothing or look to find a buyer and use the money to add to their squad? Wenger has already strengthened his forward line this summer with the signings of Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud while moves for Santi Cazorla and Nuri Sahin are on the cards so perhaps cashing in on last season’s Golden Boot winner isn’t as scary a prospect as many Arsenal supporters think.
When van Persie announced on his official website in an update for the fans that due to disagreeing with the manager and Chief Executive Ivan Gazidis on the way the club should move forward, he would not be extending his contract, the general consensus from the Arsenal fans was “OK, let’s sell him but to anyone but Man City” . In recent seasons, Gooners have seen the likes of Kolo Toure, Emmanuel Adebayor, Gael Clichy and of course Samir Nasri swap the Emirates for the Etihad – moves which have seen their club given the unwanted nickname as Manchester City’s feeder club.
But selling yet another one of their top players to City this time, could be a shrewd move for Arsenal, If they can persuade their Premier League rivals to include Edin Dzeko as part of the deal. Dzeko has recently spoken of his frustration at being used mainly as a sub last season and has reportedly told boss Roberto Mancini, he will leave if this carries on.
After starting last season as Mancini’s first-choice striker, the Bosnia and Herzegovina international soon dropped behind Sergio Aguero, Mario Balotelli and then after his return from exile, Carlos Tevez in the queue for a place in the Italian’s first eleven.
Whilst Robin van Persie’s goals to game ratio last term was impressive, Dzeko, who cost City £27 million from Wolfsburg in January 2011, bagged 14 league goals from only 16 starts. So if he was to be offered to Arsene Wenger plus £10 million in exchange for his skipper, the Frenchman should not think twice.
images: © mafue, © Ronnie Macdonald
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